Crash

As I drove to work yesterday morning, I noticed a slight but not serious increase in traffic as I got closer to the Long Island Expressway. I wasn't paying much attention because, overhead, a black helicopter with yellow markings I couldn't make out was hovering. I wasn't sure if it was a news chopper or something military; it was too far away. It was odd to see something perfectly still in midair. When I reached the intersection of the road I was on and the L.I.E., I noted several police cars blocking various exits as well as an ambulance on standby. Glancing down from the overpass I was on, I noticed the traffic was severely backed up on one side while the other side was completely empty. As I reached the other side, another ambulance peeled out from the service road and cut in ahead of me. I flipped on 1010WINS for more information, learning how many exits were blocked due to a “serious accident”, but nothing more.

I forgot about it until tonight in gym, when I saw footage on the news of a mangled Audi under a truck, as well as actual footage of the accident taken by an automatic camera on a bus. Later I'd learn the whole story, that the truck, overburdened, swerved across several lanes into the HOV lane in front of the Audi and a charter bus with parents, schoolchildren, and that aforementioned camera slammed into the Audi, shoving it under the truck. Miraculously the driver of the car SURVIVED. Ironically, in researching this incident I found a post in an automotive forum from several years ago, when he had a puncture in his fuel cell.

Trucks are the worst part of the L.I.E. Seeing how mangled the car was is a testament to an Audi's durability, or the driver's good fortune. Whenever possible I try to take parkways, but there are times where the places I'm going, various gigs in Brooklyn, can't be reached any other way. The visibility is terrible and many is the time I've found myself surrounded on 3 or 4 sides by tractor trailers, literally boxed in. One popped tire or drowsy driver or displaced load, and I'd be crushed.

Trucks are a necessity. Items need to be moved from point A to point B all across this country. Perhaps they need a dedicated lane, or perhaps even their own expressway, which is of course impossible. There's no easy solution. All we can do is watch the trucks or go another route. Perhaps I just need something more durable...